Timing for couples classes & V-day?

[Pompal 09.]

We are planning to offer a series of 4 couples massage classes, and we'd like to tie the start of the series into Valentine's Day.

V-Day is on a Sunday this year (we will be closed, as we are *every* Sunday).

What sort of spacing would you offer a series of 4 classes in? Weekly, on the same day/time each week for 4 weeks? Bi-weekly? Once a month? (I'm afraid folks would lose steam with this long spacing.)

When would you start them? After V-Day? Before? I'm thinking that folks might 1) want to take at least the first class before V-day to have the skills to use ON V-day, and/or 2) want to purchase one or more of the series as a V-day gift for their loved one. I'm personally leaning more towards the latter: if we offer the classes beginning after V-day, we might see some sales of the classes in gift certificates prior to V-day. But never having done this before, I know better than to trust what *I* think- I'm not "normal" afa shopping/gifting goes anyway, LOL!This would also give us more time to promote the classes.

Any suggestions?

The series we're planning to do is one hour each on the back, neck and shoulders, arms and hands, and feet and legs; basic Swedish type stuff with a little gift bag and of course related products to purchase.

Would you include music in with the gift bag or offer it separately (as in, "If you like the music we're using here in the class, you can buy it in our retail section.")?

Also, any suggestions on day of the week/time of day and what to charge for a 1-hour class/series of 4 1-hour classes?

 

[marybeth!]

Timing for couples classes & V-day?

Oh this sounds fun. I don't have anything to add (great job planning so far!) But I am looking forward to reading the responses from others!

 

[mit endorI]

Timing for couples classes & V-day?

Well, hopefully I'll *get* some responses from others, LOL!

Anyone?

(MM, thanks for bumping this for me!)

 

[Pompal 09.]

Timing for couples classes & V-day?

Wow this looks like a lot of fun! I'd say you will have to make the best choices for your business! I think I would start the series classes after Valentine's Day, but perhaps sell some products like music or bath salts or oils so they can be given on the Vday along with a card for the couples series. =) I think I would offer it weekly or bi-weekly, I agree with losing steam, plus I wouldn't want to wait so long for my next one! lol.

You could perhaps offer a massage special if bought before Valentine's Day, such as a 30 or 60 min plus some products. That way you get to sell retail included, if they like it, they can buy more when they come for a massage, and that way it seems like more than just a gift card in a bag. I think you have some wonderful ideas and I hope they go well! Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[STEVEN F]

Timing for couples classes & V-day?

why 4 -1 hour sessions? have you thought of doing it any other way? what about a one time - 2 hour class with maybe a follow-up or 'advanced' class. or maybe a 2 hour back, neck & shoulders class and a seperate 2 hour arms,hands, legs and feet class? i personally think that 4 - 1 hour long classes is not a great idea. i think you're asking for people to forget, get uninterested, get too busy etc...then you'll potentially have people asking for a different/new class or a refund or whatever else you can't imagine. i also think that a one hour class will smoke by so fast that you'll wish you'd have made it longer. think of this, both people are going to want to receive the work during each class. 60 minutes is not enough time to give the people the information, get them on then off then back on then back off of the table/chair/floor (or whatever your plan is). i just reread your post and saw that you plan on separating the body into different classes but wouldn't you find it to make more sense to work the neck and shoulders while working the back? i'm just thinking if i were taking a class i wouldn't want to learn everything so separately. it's kinda boring.

have fun with your class. i've been wanting to do a couple's class for a long, long, long time but still haven't. argh! i'm going to get to it...i'm going to!

ps. just pick what day works best for you. if you're considering doing more than just one class, you may want to have a class in the during the week in the evening and maybe a weekend morning/afternoon class. you'll never be able to pick the "perfect" day and time. as far as the price, what would you pay to take this class? look to see if anyone is offer a similar type of class and what they are offering and charging.

 

[Gio]

Timing for couples classes & V-day?

Just thought I'd update on how this class went:

We thought we weren't going to get anyone signing up for the class. A few people had said they really wanted to do it, but by the day before the class, noone had. Then at lunchtime the day before, DH and I were heading out to do a chair gig, and our son called from the office saying that someone was there wanting to sign up for the class. I knew who it was- a lady who wanted to take it with her boyfriend. We had already discussed whether we'd do the class for just one couple or not and decided that it would be a very good opportunity for us to get some experience and learn-as-we-went anyway, so I backtracked and took her check and information.

The class itself was very fun. I ended up printing off some basic stuff from the Internet to hand them (public stuff that we checked and it was accurate), so they'd have something to take notes against and to take home with them. We had a blast teaching them some basic Swedish, chair-in-a-regular-chair stuff, and just getting to know them. Yes, we did do two 2-hour classes; they loved having some time in between to practice and get comfortable with what we'd taught them the first week before coming back for the additional stuff.

We also learned a lot about what to say and what not to say, how to phrase things, and we got to practice the phrase "But that is not within the scope of this class" quite often, LOL!

We will *definitely* do this again- and not during Tax time or Anniversary time (meaning- with more time to actually prepare for it).